30 Days of Undead Summer

#FridayFreeForAll

It was tragic, what had happened to America. Everyone agreed on that.

Well, twenty-six-year-old Anne could think of a couple of groups that were better off with the global superpower out of commission, but most areas, businesses and the like, were hit hard by the disease that claimed the U.S.

When the news had first been released to the public, Britain had exploded with fear. After all, with speedy modern transportation, any carrier of the dubbed "zombie" virus could be on a plane, destined for the U.K. Instantly, all of the airports closed, their incoming and outgoing flights canceled for who-knows-how-long. British citizens were trapped with foreigners and vice versa.

After a month and the initial terror had passed, the airports reopened - but none flew to America.

Anne remembered being eleven and holding her best friend, Lilian, as the latter sobbed in the girl's bathroom at school. Lilian's mother had been a businesswoman who made frequent trips to the United States. She had been working there when the airports closed.

At least Lilian had received the closure of hearing that her mother was infected from one of the unfortunate woman's business associates. All communication with the States was eventually shut down, after all. Many people had no idea what had happened to their family and friends.

The morality of cutting America off snuck into debates, of course. Many citizens wanted to help America, but for once, every government in the world seemed to agree on the same thing - it was far too dangerous. Their citizens came first, and there was no way any country was stepping forward and taking the moral high ground, even how negatively impacted they were without America's business.

That is, until now.

Anne took a deep breath that did not calm her whatsoever, clenching her hands into fists.

"Calm down," the man sitting next to her muttered. He was leaning back in his seat with his eyes closed. Anne had assumed he was asleep.

"It's a little hard to," she retorted.

"We're just flying in an airplane. Think of it like that."

"I've never been to America," Anne replied. She wasn't about to admit it, but the virus had struck the country when she was eleven, and she hadn't, in fact, ever been in an airplane.

"Well, now you are, and it's for a good cause," the man pointed out.

He was right, of course. After all, Anne and the other passengers of this airplane were about to land at an abandoned American airport and live there for the next year or so as they attempted to help survivors rebuild some form of government.

The plane began to descend and Anne gasped at the sudden lurch in her stomach, clutching the armrests of her seat. The man next to her chuckled.

When the vehicle landed, Anne thought her heart would leap out of her throat. It tore across the ground at such a speed that she was sure they wouldn't be able to stop in time, but soon, the plane slowed. Passengers stood, slipping on their hazmat helmets - they were already dressed from neck to toe in the rest of the suit.

Then, they filed out of the plane.

The landscape around them was sobering. The concrete runway was cracked, plants growing in the fissures. A nearby forest seemed to be creeping closer and closer, with roots snaking onto the runway. 

The plane had landed in what had once been Indiana, and it was mid-June. The sweltering heat was made worse by the passengers' poorly ventilated hazmat suits.

The general that had accompanied the group on this mission stepped out in front of them, only recognizable by the badges fastened to his suit. "Today - " he began.

He never got to finish.

From the trees, creatures began to emerge, hideous monsters with rotting flesh and slavering, slack jaws. Several people screamed. Anna was frozen with fear.

They had assumed that the virus victims would be dead by now. It had been over a decade.

But there they were, racing toward the arriving British.

More people screamed as the passengers turned and started to run. Anna struggled to stay upright in the sudden wave of terrified people.

Adrenaline and fear made the passengers fast.

The zombies were faster.